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s.  r.  a.-b.  s.  60  U.S.  DEPOSITORY 


Issued  May  29, 1924. 


United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 


SERVICE  AND  REGULATORY  ANNOUNCEMENTS 
BUREAU  OF  BIOLOGICAL  SURVEY 


REGULATIONS  FOR  THE  PROTECTION  OF  LAND  FUR-BEARING 
ANIMALS  IN  ALASKA 

The  act  of  May  31,  1920,  entitled  "An  act  making  appropriations 
for  the  Department  of  Agriculture  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June 
30, 1921 "  (41  Stat.  694,  at  pp.  716-717),  conferred  upon  the  Secretary 
of  Agriculture  the  powers  and  duties  theretofore  conferred  upon 
the  Secretary  of  Commerce,  by  Lav,  proclamations,  or  Executive  or- 
ders, with  respect  to  any  mink,  marten,  beaver,  land  otter,  muskrat, 
fox,  wolverene,  weasel,  or  other  land  fur-bearing  animal  in  Alaska. 

Section  1956  of  the  Revised  Statutes,  as  amended  by  section  173 
of  the  act  of  March  3,  1899  (30  Stat.  1253),  and  by  section  4  of  the 
act  of  April  21,  1910  (36  Stat.  326-327),  provides  that— 

No  person  shall  kill  any  otter,  mink,  marten,  sable,  or  fur  seal,  or  other 
fur-bearing  animal,  within  the  limits  of  Alaskan  Territory  or  in  the  waters 
thereof;  and  every  person  guilty  thereof  shall,  for  each  offense,  be  fined  not 
less  than  two  hundred  nor  more  than  one  thousand  dollars  or  imprisoned  not 
more  than  six  months,  or  both ;  and  all  vessels,  their  tackle,  apparel,  furniture, 
and  cargo  found  engaged  in  violation  of  this  section  shall  be  forfeited ;  but  the 
Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor  shall  have  power  to  authorize  the  killing  of 
any  such  mink,  marten,  sable,  fur  seal,  or  other  fur-bearing  an'mal  under  such 
regulations  as  he  may  prescribe;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Secretary  of 
Commerce  and  Labor  to  prevent  the  killing  of  any  fur  seal  except  as  authorized 
by  law  and  to  provide  for  the  execution  of  the  provisions  of  this  section  until 
it  is  otherwise  provided  by  law. 

Pursuant  to  the  authority  conferred  upon  the  Secretary  of  Agricul- 
ture under  the  aforesaid  acts  of  Congress,  the  following  regulations, 
effective  July  1,  1924,  are  prescribed  to  govern  the  killing  of  land 
fur-bearing  animals  in  Alaska: 

REGULATION    1.— DISTRICTS 

For  the  purpose  of  enforcing  this  act  the  Territory  of  Alaska  is  hereby 
divided  into  three  districts  as  shown  in  the  accompanying  map  and  described 
as  follows : 

District  1  includes  the  Aleutian  Islands,  Alaska  Peninsula  and  neighboring 
islands,  and  Southeastern  Alaska,  mainland  and  islands,  from  Yakutat  Bay 
to  Dixon  Entrance. 

District  2  includes  the  mainland  and  islands  from  Yakutat  Bay,  Gulf  of 
Alaska,  Iliamna  Lake,  and  Bristol  Bay,  northward  to  the  headwaters  of 
the  streams  flowing  into  the  Arctic  Ocean  north  of  the  sixty-eighth  parallel 
of  north  latitude. 

District  3  includes  the  region  drained  by  the  streams  entering  the  Arctic 
Ocean  north  of  the  sixty-eighth  parallel  of  north  latitude. 

100565—24 


BUREAU   OF   BIOLOGICAL   SURVEY 


S.  R.  A. 


REGULATION   2.— UNPRIME   PELTS 

No  land  fur-bearing  animal  shall  be  killed  when  its  pelt  is  unprirne. 

REGULATION  3.— BEAVER  AND  MARTEN 

The  killing  of  beaver  and  marten  throughout  the  Territory  is  hereby  pro- 
hibited. 

REGULATION    4.— KRUZOF    AND    PARTOFSHIKOF    ISLANDS 

The  killing  of  any  land  fur-bearing  animal  on  Kruzof  and  Partofshikof 
Islands  is  hereby  prohibited. 

REGULATION  5.— LOWER  TAKU  RIVER 

The  killing  of  any  land  fur-bearing  animal,  except  wolves,  in  the  drainage  of 
the  Taku  River  between  the  Canadian  Boundary  and  a  line  drawn  from  Taku 
Point  to  the  east  end  of  the  face  of  Taku  Glacier  is  hereby  prohibited. 


Map  of  Alaska,  showing  fur  districts 


REGULATION    6.— OPEN    SEASONS 

Land    fur-bearing  animals   may   be   killed   in   llie   specified   dist rids   during 
the  following  open  seasons,  dates  inclusive: 

District    I:   (See  exceptions   for  the  Kodiak-Afognak   Islands  Group.) 
Muskrat,  December  16  to  April  30. 

Mink,  land  otter,  and  weasel  (ermine).  December  16  to  March  31. 
Bear— black,  cinnamon,  and  glacier— September  1  to  .June  30. 
Fox—red,  cross,  and  silver— and  lynx,  November  ]»'»  to  February  15. 
Blue    fox— on    the    Aleutian     Islands    Reservation    only — November    10    to 

February  15. 
Wolf  or  wolverene,  no  close  season. 

Kodiak  Afognak  Islands  Croup,  including  Dark  Island  as 
the  outermost  island  on  the  north,  Marmot  Island  on  the  east,  and 
Tugidak  and  Trinity  Islands  on  the  west  and  south: 

I.  cross,  and  silver — land  otter,  weasel  (ermine),  Novem- 
ber 16  to  February  15. 


B.  S.  GO  SERVICE    AXD   REGULATORY   ANNOUNCEMENTS  6 

District  2: 

Muskrat,   May  1   to  June  10,   except,  that  in  all  that  part  of  District  2 

lying  south  of  latitude  62°   and  west  of  longitude  141,   to   include   the 

waters  tributary  to  Cook  Inlet,  the  open  season  shall  be  December  16 

to  April  30. 
Mink,  land  otter,  and  weasel   (ermine),  November  16  to  March  31. 
Bear — black,  cinnamon,  and  glacier — September  1  to  June  30. 
Foxes  (see  exceptions)  and  lynx.  December  1  to  March  31. 

Exceptions:  Blue  foxes  may  be  taken  south  of  latitude  62°  only  on  the 
Bering  Sea  drainage  north  of  Bristol  Bay. 
Wolf  and  wolverene,  no  close  season. 

District  3: 

Muskrat,  May  1  to  June  10. 

Foxes,    lynx,   mink,    land   otter,   and   weasel    (ermine),    November   16   to 

March  31. 
Black  or  cinnamon  bears,  wolf,  and  wolverene,  no  close  season. 

REGULATION   7.— ARTIFICIAL   LIGHTS   AND    DESTRUCTION    OF    HOUSES,   DAMS,    OR 

RUNWAYS  OF  BEAVER 

The  killing  of  any  of  the  following  land  fur-bearing  animals,  viz:  White 
fox,  blue  fox,  red  fox,  cross  fox,  black  or  silver  fox,  mink,  marten  (American 
sable),  land  otter,  weasel  (ermine),  muskrat,  and  beaver,  by  the  use  of  a  jack 
or  pit  lamp  or  any  other  artificial  light,  and  the  destruction  of  the  houses, 
dams,  or  runways  of  beaver  by  the  use  of  dynamite  or  other  explosives,  or 
in  any  other  manner,  is  prohibited  at  all  times. 

REGULATION  8.— TRAPS 

The  killing  of  any  land  fur-bearing  animal  at  any  time  by  means  of  the  trap 
or  device  known  as  the  "  klips,"  or  by  means  of  any  steel  bear  trap  or  any  other 
trap  with  jaws  having  a  spread  exceeding  9  inches,  is  prohibited. 

REGULATION  9.— DOGS 

The  use  of  dogs  for  pursuing  and  killing  any  land  fur-bearing  animal  for 
which  a  close  season  is  prescribed  for  any  period  is  prohibited. 

REGULATION    10.— POISON 

The  killing  of  any  land  fur-bearing  animal  by  means  of  strychnine  or  other 
poison  is  prohibited  at  all  times,  except  that  wolves,  coyotes,  and  wolverenes 
may  be  so  killed  under  official  supervision. 

REGULATION    11.— SEIZURE    OF    SKINS 

Skins  of  land  fur-bearing  animals  killed  in  violation  of  the  Alaska  fur  law 
or  of  these  regulations  and  found  in  the  possession  of  any  person  in  Alaska 
shall  be  seized  by  a  warden,  an  officer  designated  by  the  Secretary  of  Agri- 
culture, or  other  officer  authorized  by  law. 

REGULATION  12.— SHIPMENTS  OF  FURS  TO  BE  REPORTED 

Shipments  of  furs  consigned  to  points  outside  of  Alaska,  which  may  be  made 
at  any  time,  shall  be  reported  to  the  Bureau  of  Biological  Survey,  Department 
of  Agriculture,  on  appropriate  blanks  which  will  be  supplied  for  that  purpose. 

On  and  after  July  1,  1924,  all  regulations  for  the  protection  of 
land  fur-bearing  animals  in  Alaska*  made  and  published  by  the  Sec- 
retary of  Agriculture  under  authority  of  the  Alaska  fur  law  prior 
to  the  regulations  hereby  made  and  published  shall  be  and  are  hereby 
revoked. 

In  testimony  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused  the 
official  seal  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  to  be 
affixed,  in  the  City  of  Washington,  this  Gth  day  of  May,  1924. 

[seal.]  Henry  C.  Wallace, 

Secretary  of  Agriculture. 


4  BUREAU    OF    BIOLOGICAL   SURVEY  S.  R.  A.— B.  S.  60 

Note.— The  Criminal  Code  of  Alaska  (Title  1,  Chap.  13,  sec.  186)  provides 
th;it  all  persons  concerned  in  the  commission  of  a  crime,  whether  they  directly 
commit  the  act  constituting  the  crime  or  aid  and  abet  in  its  commission,  though 
not  present,  are  principals,  and  are  to  be  tried  and  punished  as  such.  By  this 
section  any  person  knowingly  selling  poison  for  the  purpose  of  killing  land 
fur-bearing  animals  is  a  participator  in  the  crime  and  is  likewise  punishable. 
*  *  *  The  Criminal  Code  of  Alaska,  section  2043,  provides  that  if  any 
person  shall  sell  or  deliver  any  arsenic,  corrosive  sublimate,  prussic  acid,  or 
other  poison,  without  having  the  word  "  poison  "  and  the  true  name  thereof  in 
English  written  or  printed  upon  a  label  attached  to  the  vial,  box,  or  parcel 
containing  the  same,  such  person,  upon  conviction  thereof,  shall  be  punished 
by  a  fine  of  not  less  than  twenty  nor  more  than  one  hundred  dollars. 


Penalties  for  Unlawful  Shipment  and  Transportation 

(Criminal  Code— Act  of  March  4,  1900.     35  Stat.,  1137) 

Sec.  242.  It  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  person  to  deliver  to  any  common  car- 
rier for  transportation,  or  for  any  common  carrier  to  transport  from  any  State, 
Territory,  or  District  of  the  United  States,  to  any  other  State,  Territory, 
or  District  thereof,  any  foreign  animals  or  birds,  the  importation  of  which 
is  prohibited,  or  the  dead  bodies  or  parts  thereof  of  any  wild  animals 
or  birds,  where  such  animals  or  birds  have  been  killed  or  shipped  in  violation 
of  the  laws  of  the  State,  Territory,  or  District  in  which  the  same  were  killed, 
or  from  which  they  were  shipped :  Provided,  That  nothing  herein  shall  prevent 
the  transportation  of  any  dead  birds  or  animals  killed  during  the  season  when 
the  same  may  be  lawfully  captured,  and  the  export  of  which  is  not  prohibited 
by  law  in  the  State,  Territory,  or  District  in  which  the  same  are  captured  or 
killed :  Provided  fui*thcr,  That  nothing  herein  shall  prevent  the  importation, 
transportation,  or  sale  of  birds  or  bird  plumage  manufactured  from  the  feath- 
ers of  barnyard  fowls.     *     *     * 

Sec.  244.  For  each  evasion  or  violation  of  any  provision  of  the  three  last 
sections  preceding  the  shipper  shall  be  fined  not  more  than  two  hundred  dol- 
lars ;  the  consignee  knowingly  receiving  such  articles  so  shipped  and  trans- 
ported in  violation  of  said  sections  shall  be  fined  not  more  than  two  hundred 
dollars ;  and  the  carrier  knowingly  carrying  or  transporting  the  same  in  viola- 
tion of  said  sections  shall  be  fined  not  more  than  two  hundred  dollars. 


— ^---""in 


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WASHINGTON  :  GOVERNMENT  ['ItlN'TINC  OFKH  K  :  JM4 


